Tenants and residents of Hoey Court and Massey House in Bromley-by-Bow, east London, have been left without heating or hot water for months. For some, this has been going on since September 2025.

Their landlord, Peabody Housing Association has repeatedly ignored their pleas to fix the problems, and has instead supplied some with blow-heaters as a solution.

Residents left in the cold

The two large tower blocks have suffered persistent problems with their heating and hot water systems, as one tenant explains:

It is almost unbelievable that Peabody is allowed to continue to make us suffer. For some of us, these issues started back in September and we are now in January.

What kind of an organisation leaves vulnerable people, elderly, children and families without essential services in the coldest months of the year?

Despite contacting Peabody and its maintenance teams, the tenants and residents believe Peabody is brushing them off.

Suzanne Muna, secretary and cofounder of housing campaign group SHAC, commented:

This is an intolerable situation for the householders affected by the broken plumbing. The lack of urgency by Peabody is staggering.

It shows just why tougher accountability is needed in the housing association sector, and that we need a body to be set up that can inspect homes and enforce minimum living standards. The current regulatory system is just not working.

Landlords are able to ignore the fact that people are living in conditions that are hazardous to their health. And the remedy that government offers is a long-winded procedure through the landlord’s own complaints system, the Housing Ombudsman Service, and then the courts, or possibly a regulatory downgrade that might embarrass the landlord into fixing the problem.

This is a desperate situation and government needs to make it clear that it is not acceptable through meaningful enforcement.

SHAC added that finances cannot be an issue. Peabody Housing Association made an operating surplus of £220m in the financial year ending 31 March 2025 according to its latest accounts. Yet SHAC receives an increasing volume of complaints about this landlord, concerning disrepairs including leaks, damp and mould.

SHAC will continue supporting the tenants and residents of Hoey Court and Massey House until Peabody completes the repairs properly.

Featured image via the Canary

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